SIBLING RIVALRY
Stunt children, not my real grandchildren
There is
much talk about bullying these days, but not much about sibling rivalry. Some of the biggest bullies are big
brothers. I had two big brothers. Jim six years my elder did not pick on me
very much, he had Chris, who was four years older than I, to pick on. I was Chris’ bullying target.
The bullying
went Jim to Chris, Chris to Joe, Joe to….damn.
The thing about brothers is the youngest probably deserves to be picked
on. I know I was a pain in the ass to my
brothers, and I also was horning in on their allotted time of Parental
attention.
Another
thing about brothers is that as much as Chris picked on me, I had a protector
from other older kids. Chris could tease
and or torture me, but woe to the interloper who tried to join in on the
fun.
Mom was no
real help in limiting the bullying. When
I went to her to throw my brother under the bus she would say, “Oh just ignore
him” or “Well just stay away from him then.”
Actually that was good advice, but I would not stay away, I always
wanted to get in on the “big guy” stuff.
Chris never physically
hurt me, he specialized in torture. His
favorite form of torture was the “lugee (a sticky glob of spit) slurp.” Chris would get on top of me, pin my
shoulders and arms with his knees, and then hang a lugee right over my
screaming mouth. At the last second he
would slurp the lugee and laugh as I would nearly throw-up at the thought of
him letting it drop. Apparently Chris
learned this trick the hard way from Jim.
On one
disgusting torture session, the lugee dropped; right in my mouth. Ewe…yuck…gag!
Chris laughed, although I think he was a bit grossed out himself, and I
nearly threw up. That was the end of
that particular mode of torture. The
mere thought of a dropped lugee drove me to “crazy” strength and I could not be
held down.
This summer,
my oldest son, Mike, was visiting from Colorado. We got to talking about the sibling rivalry
between him and his older sister and his younger brother. At one point, Mike started laughing as he
told me, “The worst thing I ever did to Matt, was I used to pin his arms with
my knees, and fake dropping a lugee into his mouth. One day I slurped too late, and it went right
into his mouth. After that, I never had
enough strength to hold him down like that again.”
The circle
of strife!
When I baby sit
on Thursdays for Matt’s two toddlers and I watch the interaction between these
two brothers, I can’t help but think that poor Connor has a saliva slurpee in
his future.
Tell Connor to beware the lurking lugee!!
ReplyDeleteGross. You guys were lucky number one wasn't a girl. I knew how to make my brothers break things while I disappeared, never to take the blame.
ReplyDeleteEwwww! Y'all were mean little boogers!
ReplyDeleteI was the oldest, but my brother was so much younger it wasn't much of a challenge. I started college when he started first grade.
S
So funny... My two sons fought just like that and I used to tell the younger boy the same thing your mother told you. It's good they stay in touch now as adults, and my younger boy is now learning good things from his older brother.
ReplyDeleteDid not have a big bro had a younger one that just was mean but I was also mean to him so it was an even playing field. My hubby had one of those big brothers the ones that traumatize you so bad you are scarred for life...Yeah god times
ReplyDeleteYep, the circle of strife. I don't think big brothers need to be taught the loogee trick. It's just part of being a big brother. I broke my big brother of that trick when I figured out how to squirm loose enough to knee him where it hurts. HA!
ReplyDeleteAt least your brothers cared enough to torture you. At least you got some attention. My brother treated me like bacteria.
ReplyDelete